Tennessee surplus lines insurance market data

What the reports tell us about Tennessee surplus insurance

The supplied reports describe the size, activity and composition of Tennessee's surplus lines market. They provide context for understanding where surplus home insurance fits when a property owner is looking for an option after a nonrenewal or declined application.

Most headline figures cover all surplus insurance lines, including substantial commercial property and liability business. The closest category to this website's residential focus is Residential/Homeowners & Other Personal Property. This is a combined category, not an owner-occupied homeowners-only dataset.

The 2025 annual and quarterly documents are SLIP+ reports describing information processed by the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office for Tennessee. The Tennessee Surplus Lines Office (TNSLO) prepared the 2026 midyear and peer-state analyses using identified data sources. These sources have distinct roles.

The residential category is the most relevant starting point

The peer-state report provides a combined residential category for Tennessee and Mississippi. Each state's total surplus premium is included below so the denominator behind the percentage is visible.

Tennessee's 1.7% means that the combined category represented approximately 1.7% of the state's total reported surplus premium for January through June 2026. It does not mean that 1.7% of Tennessee homeowners buy surplus insurance. The report does not supply the statewide homeowners-policy denominator needed for that calculation.

Mississippi is included because it is the comparison state in the supplied TNSLO report. Its larger residential share describes a different mix of reported surplus business. It does not establish that an otherwise identical Tennessee home should pay less, that Mississippi has more available quote options, or that the same insurers will accept a Tennessee property.

How the categories were prepared

TNSLO took Mississippi's categories from WSIA's published 2026 midyear report. For Tennessee, it mapped approximately 90 individual SLIP+ coverage codes into ten broad categories using WSIA's published definitions. The report says most mappings are straightforward, while a smaller number involve judgment and have not been independently confirmed against WSIA's methodology for Tennessee.

The combined category does not separately establish the number, average premium or availability of policies for rental houses, cabins, condos, vacant homes or manufactured homes. Those properties still need their own coverage and underwriting discussion.

Compare the same six-month period

Both columns below cover January through June. Comparing matching periods gives a more useful trend than comparing a half year with a full year.

Total reported premium declined faster than reported policy count. These are aggregate market changes, not evidence that an individual homeowner's renewal price fell by 11.3% or that the same coverage became 11.3% cheaper.

Premium volume can change with policy counts, types of business, insured values, coverage limits, endorsements, submission timing and pricing. The reports do not track a constant group of identical homes with unchanged policy terms. A household renewal comparison should match the property information, coverage limits, deductibles, roof settlement terms, exclusions and total charges.

The full-year 2025 benchmark

The annual report provides historical scale. Its twelve-month period is different from the six-month periods above. Do not treat the $2.2 billion annual figure and $958.1 million half-year figure as a direct year-over-year comparison.

The annual and quarterly reports also contain average premiums, tax totals, leading coverage classes and insurer rankings. Their averages include business far beyond household policies. Their insurer rankings reflect all-lines activity. Those figures are not used as suggested home insurance prices or a directory of insurers currently accepting Tennessee homeowners.

What was used from the supplied documents

• The 2025 annual report supplies the full-year premium, policy count and premium-growth benchmark.
• The third- and fourth-quarter 2025 reports provide historical quarterly context and confirm reporting periods and count definitions.
• The first-quarter 2026 report identifies January through March activity before the later half-year analysis.
• The TNSLO midyear report supplies the exact first-half premium and policy-count comparison, along with submit-date and revision methodology.
• The TNSLO peer-state report supplies the combined residential category, both state totals used as percentage denominators and the coverage-code classification explanation.

These sources support descriptive market information. They do not replace policy forms, endorsements, insurer eligibility checks or the facts needed to quote a specific property. An insurer's all-lines ranking does not establish its current homeowners appetite or an insurance professional's access to that insurer.

Report dates and limitations

The quarterly reports organize data by policy submission date. Their policy-count notes specify new business and renewals. Premium can also reflect endorsements. Reported policy counts should not be interpreted as numbers of distinct households or properties.

The TNSLO midyear and peer-state analyses cover activity through June 30, 2026, with Tennessee data retrieved in August 2026. Figures may change as additional filings are processed and audited. The percentages shown here follow the reports' rounding.

One supplied file includes an April 2026 date and Q4 in its filename, but the document identifies first-quarter 2026 and explicitly covers January 1 through March 31. This page follows the period printed inside that report. File naming and PDF metadata are not treated as verified publication dates.

How to use the information when coverage is difficult

The reports provide context: surplus lines forms part of the wider insurance market, and the supplied analysis identifies a residential component. A nonrenewal or declined application still deserves a review of the individual property.

Ask why a surplus policy is proposed, which insurer would issue it, what coverage or settlement terms differ from your existing policy, and what the complete cost would be. If a roof, prior claim, vacancy or rental use is affecting the search, make sure those facts are accurately described before comparing options.

Read the surplus home insurance guide, compare a quote step by step or request a quote for your Tennessee property.

Source documents

• 2025 SLIP+ Tennessee Annual Report, page 2: full-year totals and policy-count definitions.
• Tennessee 2025 Third Quarter Report, SLIP+, page 2: quarterly activity, reporting period and endorsement note.
• Tennessee 2025 Fourth Quarter and Year-to-Date Report, SLIP+, pages 2 and 3: fourth-quarter and full-year context.
• Tennessee 1Q2026 Quarterly Report, SLIP+, page 2: January through March activity. Supplied in the April-dated file with Q4 in its filename.
• TNSLO 2026 Midyear Report, page 2: exact first-half totals, monthly detail and methodology.
• TNSLO Midyear 2026 Peer State Comparison, page 5: combined residential category, state totals, classification note and methodology.

Figures checked against the supplied reports. Public report resources: SLIP+ Tennessee market reports and TNSLO.

Prepared September 15, 2026. Source attribution does not imply endorsement. These are descriptive market figures, not insurance quotations.